NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers VS Minnesota Timberwolves Pick and Predictions 01/14/2023

Game: 8:00 PM ET,  Saturday, January 14th, 2023

Venue: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

TV:  NBA League Pass

Cavaliers: 27-16, 4th place Eastern Conference

Timberwolves: 20-22, 10th place Western Conference

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Cavs -4.5, O/U 224.5

PointsBet: Point Spread: Cavs -5, O/U 224.5

Fanduel: Point Spread: Cavs -5, O/U 224.5

Cavaliers: PF Evan Mobley, SF isaac Okoro, C Jarrett Allen, PG Darius Garland, SG Donovan Mitchell

Timberwolves: SF Anthony Edwards, PF Jaden McDaniels, C Ridy Gobert, SG D’Angelo Russell, PG Austin Rivers

An interconference battle of a good team in the Eastern Conference and a struggling team in the Western Conference.  Which conference is better… who cares?.  What we are really looking for is a Great Betting Opportunity… and this game will provide that.  The Cleveland Cavaliers have a true, full leader in SG Donovan Mitchell… and BTW Donovan is very familiar with playing the Minnesota Timberwolves because he not only spent his first five seasons in their conference but in their division!  The Timberwolves don’t know what they are doing. It is that simple.  They have good players… but they lost their last game to the Detroit Pistons… They broke a 4-game winning streak against one of the worst teams in the league with nowhere near the caliber of players they have.  Let's check the numbers and make a winning bet.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have risen all the way to 4th place in the Eastern Conference.  That marks them as potential contenders this offseason.  They have won only 5 of their last 10 games… but they have had really big highlights during that run… like a 71 point game for SG Donovan Mitchell.  They won their last game against the Portland Trail Blazers 119-113, which was also a win ATS.  Winning against the spread has been very difficult for the Cavaliers. They are only 3-6-1 ATS in their last 10 games.  In the win the Cavs got 26 points from Donovan Mitchell, 24 points from C Jarrett Allen, and 20 points & 10 assists from Darius Garland.  The Cavaliers have a very good mix of players… except for PF Kevin Love… who makes BIG money and may be holding the team back at this point.  He isn’t good enough to trade that salary for equal value… but since that money is expiring this season?... He should be on the move for cap relief for someone else and pieces for the Cavs.  If he does not move along… then he will simply expire and open up tons of cap space for the Cavs.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have a desperate imbalance and a are missing Karl-Anthony Towns to injury.  The result is they have won games… but they don’t win long enough over a sustained period to be worth a chance.  They lost their last game to the terrible Detroit Pistons 135-118… snapping a 5-game win streak that started AFTER THE LAST TIME THEY LOST TO DETROIT!!  This is an odd bird of a team.  On paper they have C Rudy Gobert, C/PF Karl Anthony Towns, SF Anthony Edwards, and PG D’Angelo Russel… Two of those guys should be traded at the deadline… Or none of those guys will ever be worth trading.  In their last loss to Detroit .. None of the Timberwolves had a positive +/- number… because none of them could play a lick of defense.

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CLE: 27-16, 21-19-3 ATS, 21-22 O/U, 9-12 in road games.

MIN: 20-22, 18-24 ATS, 20-22 O/U, 12-9 in home games.

The Cavaliers are 26th in scoring with 111.7 points per game, 20th in rebounds with 42.6 per game, 23rd in AST/TO ratio with 1.7, and 26th in blocks with 4.1 per game.

The Timberwolves are 12th in scoring with 114.8 per game, 26th in rebounds with 41.9 per game, 25th in AST/TOP ratio with 1.6, and 6th in blocks with 5.3 per game.

Our prediction for Saturday, January 14th is…. Cavs 118 - T-Wolves 100

Bet on the Cavs.  The truth about the T-Wolves is they are really good, but they are a bad mix… guys do not like other guys shining… guys do not like being a support player… guys do not like teamwork.  The truth is the Timberwolves should blow the Cavs out… but they will have so much internal friction they will not.  PLus the Cavs backcourt is better than the T-Wolves backcourt and that is where the real scoring will come from both teams.

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(will update)

Cavs:  PG Darius Garland.  Darius was the star of a good Cavs team last year with lots of room to build.  He took a backseat to the addition of SG Donovan Mitchell.  He shouldn’t.  Donovan will get his from just being on the floor and what Donovan really needs is for Darius to play free to his potential on the court.  When the Cavs get that… They will have everything.

T-Wolves: SF Anthony Edwards.  Anthony wants to be the leader and leading scorer of whatever team he plays on.  No one else in Minnesota wants to give that up… It is a big problem.  The team traded Andrew Wiggins a few seasons ago and watched him play better in Golden State.  They will have to decide if AE is worth trading or if the CANCER on their roster is KAT?.. Someone has to go.

Cavs: JB “huh?.. We are good” Bickerstaff

T-Wolves: Chris “ I’m going to get fired” Finch.